The present invention relates generally to communication networks, and more particularly, to a method and system of content collaboration among a group of participants connected to such networks using a dynamic distribution of data.
Currently, group content collaboration tools are known that can be used to assist multiple participants to collaborate to modify content. Examples of content include binary content, such as images, and textual content.
One type of group content collaboration uses store and forward technology. Initially, a message is sent to participants with some attached content. Participants are able to respond to the message with any changes to the content. Typically, the sender of the message accepts the changes from the other participants, and must manually merge the changes.
This type of tool has several drawbacks. First, intermediate results of the content change process are not available in an aggregated form. This may prevent individuals from making the best possible content changes for the group. Further, messages with content changes may be scattered within or could be missing from a participant""s electronic mail in-box. This can cause a participant to be uninformed about important changes to the content or require him or her to analyze multiple messages with varying content changes to understand the aggregated form of the content. This means that the participant does not benefit from seeing or contemplating changes made by other participants, since the content is only current when sent to each of the participants. As a result, changes made by a participant to the content may be duplicated or the content may no longer be relevant. This causes inefficiency within the collaborative environment. Further, each participant may send responses back to the sender and other participants of the message in varying formats. This can make aggregating or summarizing changes to the group content collaboration difficult. Finally, there is no aggregated immediate feedback to a participant as to how his or her changes have affected the group content collaboration process. Ultimately, the participants are prevented from having a complete picture of the current state of the content collaboration.
Another drawback to the above group content collaboration tool is that content is often distributed using electronic mail. In this case, participants attach content as a file using a number of known tools. However, this causes the content to be duplicated and stored on a number of mail servers and clients. This can waste bandwidth and can cause bottlenecks in the network.
Another type of group content collaboration tool is real time conferencing. In this case, an electronic forum is established in which participants manipulate content such that changes are immediately reflected to each participant. Participants are expected to focus their attention and continually respond during a real time conferencing session. For example, many participants may participate in a white board conferencing system.
Real time group content collaboration tools suffer from several drawbacks. One drawback is that real time conferencing requires participants to interact at the same time.
This may be unduly burdensome and may be inconvenient to some or all of the participants. Additionally, participants may not be able to effectively collaborate when the group becomes too large. Further, real time conferencing typically operates in a proprietary environment. This means that each participant must match-up with complimentary services to participate in the conference. This can require increased costs and additional navigation for and set-up of non-proprietary participants. This can limit and exclude the number of participants that can collaborate in a group. Additionally, proprietary tools can consume significant computer resources, such as memory.
Another type of group content collaboration tool, such as source code control systems, forces exclusive sequential access to content. The content may be checked out, modified, and then checked back into some repository. This means that multiple participants may be blocked from making changes to the content. This can significantly increase the time required for each participant to make his or her changes. This is because participants may need to be notified of available unlocked content or keep checking to see if the content is unlocked.
In general, the present invention is directed to a system and method for content collaboration among participants connected to a network. Preferably, an electronic medium has at least one dynamic content region that includes dynamic content and is stored in a server. The electronic medium is served to at least one of the participants in response to an open action of an electronic message by the at least one participant. The dynamic content may include binary or textual content. The dynamic content region may be asynchronously dynamically updated and retrieved in response to the open action. In this way, the dynamic content in the electronic medium is current when read or accessed by any of the participants and reflects the then current content of the group content collaboration.
Accordingly, in one aspect, the present invention is directed to a system for content collaboration among a group of participants that includes a server having an associated database and adapted to be used in a network. The server generates and sends an electronic message to the participants, and the server generates and sends an electronic medium stored in the database to at least one participant in response to a first open action of the electronic message by the least one participant. An interface in the electronic medium may be used to communicate input from the participants. At least one dynamic content region having dynamic content associated with the content collaboration may be included in the electronic medium, and logic in communication with the database may asynchronously dynamically update and dynamically retrieve the dynamic content associated with the content collaboration that is stored in the database.
Implementations of the invention may include one or more of the following. The binary content may include images, streaming media, a virtual white board, or a group greeting card. An external source in data communication with the server may be used to deliver content to the dynamic content region. The network system may be adapted to support the Internet or an electronic mail protocol. The textual content may include a list, word processing document, a table, a form, an outline, a calendar, or a slide presentation.
In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a content collaboration tool that includes a server having a database that is adapted to receive an electronic form. The electronic form may include network addresses associated with each participant in a group and details about a plurality of binary content. The server may generate and send an electronic message to each of the network addresses. An electronic medium may be stored in the database and sent to at least one participant in the group in response to a first open action by the least one participant. The electronic medium may be asynchronously dynamically updated and dynamically retrieved by the server. At least one dynamic content region may be included in the electronic medium that includes dynamic content. The dynamic content may be binary or textual content.
In a further aspect, the present invention is directed to a method for content collaboration among a group of participants that includes generating an electronic form having a plurality of network addresses associated with the participants and details about the content. The method also includes sending the electronic form to a server, and parsing an electronic message received by at least one of the participants from the server in response to an open action by the at least one participant. An electronic medium having at least one dynamic content region may be served in response to an open action by any of the participants. The electronic medium may be stored in a server, and may include a dynamic content region having a then current dynamic content. The dynamic content may include binary or textual content. The method may also include asynchronously dynamically updating and dynamically retrieving input from any of the participants about the content.
The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.